In the following essay, MacDonald offers a stylistic and thematic analysis of "The Snows of Kilimanjaro, " contending that contrary to other critical interpretations, the protagonist does not transcend artistic failure.

In spite of the unusually large amount of criticism that has been devoted to "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" during the last thirty-five years, several of the most fundamental critical problems posed by the story remain unsolved. Recent criticism indicates that there is still no adequate general understanding of the significance of Harry's imagined flight to Kilimanjaro near the end of the story, of the specific reasons for Hemingway's extensive use of italics, or of the exact implications of the brief epigraph of the story.